Derek Levasseur, a small-business owner from central Maine, announced his candidacy for governor Thursday, joining an expansive list of people who hope to succeed Gov. Janet Mills.

Levasseur has no prior experience as an elected official but emphasized his “lived experience” in his campaign announcement.

“I’m not a career politician,” he said in a statement. “I’ve lived through real struggles. I’ve built businesses, worked with families, and faced life’s hardest moments head on. That’s why I’m running — because I understand what Mainers are going through, and I’m ready to fight for them.”

Levasseur is running as an independent, but in 2019, he launched a long-shot challenge against U.S. Sen. Susan Collins in the Republican primary and criticized her at the time for not supporting President Donald Trump enough. He later said Maine Republican Party officials encouraged him to drop out before the primary election. Collins went on to win her fifth term.

Levasseur also has a criminal history that includes a 2012 charge for domestic violence assault, when he was a reserve police officer for the town of Clinton, and an acquittal in 2021 on separate charges of domestic violence from 2019.

He acknowledged that past in his campaign announcement.

“Like many Mainers, I’ve faced challenges that tested everything I believed in,” he said. “I was accused of something I didn’t do, and I was found not guilty — but the experience forever changed me. It taught me humility, compassion, and the importance of fighting for truth, even when the odds are against you.”

Levasseur, who runs a small construction company in Fairfield, said his campaign will focus on lowering the cost of living, eliminating property taxes on primary homes, reforming Maine’s Department of Health and Human Services for accountability and child protection, ensuring government transparency, and uniting Maine across party lines.

“We don’t need more division. We need honesty, accountability, and compassion in government,” he said.

Levasseur is the fifth independent candidate for governor — a list that also includes state Sen. Rick Bennett of Oxford, also a former Republican, and Edward Crockett, who represented Portland in the Maine House as a Democrat. There are also seven Democrats and eight Republicans vying for party nominations.

Party candidates have until March to turn in enough signatures to get on the primary ballot; independent candidates have until June.